Planetating piston rotary internal combustion engine

ABSTRACT

An annular piston is rockably, revolubly mounted on a circular eccentric fixed on a shaft concentrically rotatable within a cylindrical chamber provided in a stator having parallel end walls providing bearings in which said shaft journals. A radially slotted cylindrical rocker is rotatable in a bore in said stator parallel to and communicating with said chamber to slideably receive a flat plate fixed along its inner edge to said piston to restrict the latter to planetary and revoluble motions when the shaft rotates. The piston is dimensioned to slideably engage said end walls and has peripheral seals yieldably engaging said chamber bore as said piston planetates to fill said chamber excepting for a series of subchambers successively generated between said annular piston and said chamber by the rotation of said shaft. Said chamber bore has a pocket in an area adjacent said plate which communicates with each subchamber in its initial stage, a rotary valve and a spark plug also communicating with said pocket for timely delivery of a pre-compressed gaseous fuel charge to said pocket and ignition to the same to produce a torque power impulse upon said eccentric and shaft. A gaseous fuel pump is also provided in said engine embodying in said stator and on said shaft elements duplicating the aforesaid cylindrical chamber, annular piston, peripheral seals, eccentric, rocker and flat plate and a throttle valve controlled carburetor connected by a suction passage with said pump chamber and a compressed fuel reservoir connecting the discharge of said pump with the aforesaid rotary fuel charge delivery valve.

tates atent 1 1 1 Williams 1 PLANETATKNG PISTON ROTARY INTERNAL OMBUST1ON ENGINE [76] Inventor: Robert H. Williams, Rte. 2,

Bandera, Tex. 78003 [22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 343,971

[52] US. Cl. 123/841, 418/112 Primary ExaminerCarlton R. Croyle Assistant Examiner-Michael Koczo, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT An annular piston is rockably, revolubly mounted on a circular eccentric fixed on a shaft concentrically rotatable within a cylindrical chamber provided in a stator Oct, 8, 1974 having parallel end walls providing hearings in which said shaft journals. A radiallyslotted cylindrical rocker'is rotatable in a bore in said stator parallel to and communicating with said chamber to slideably receive a flat plate fixed along its inner edge to said piston to restrict the latter to planetary and revoluble motions when the shaft rotates. The piston is dimensioned to slideably engage said'end walls and has peripheral seals yieldably engaging said chamber bore as said piston planetates to fill said chamber excepting for a series of subchambers successively generated between said annular piston and said chamber by the rotation of said shaft.

Said chamber bore has a pocket in an area adjacent said plate which communicates with each subcharnber in its initial stage, a rotary valve and a spark plug also communicating with said pocket for timely delivery of a pre-compressed gaseous fuel charge to said pocket and ignition to the same to produce a torque power impulse upon said eccentric and shaft.

4 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATEminum 81974 SHEEI 1 or 5 &w% W 5 m 5 l'lglllllllllllli'l PATENImum 81974 SHEET l. 0F 5 PAIENIEMBI 81974 SIIEU 5 0F 5 PLANETATINGPISTON ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Sealing has been the outstanding problem with internal combustion rotary engines. Even the Wankel, after years of development, still suffers a serious sealing handicap. Its apex seal can skip just after it passes the lobe of the cylinder. It can also develop a chatter which scores the cylinder. This fault occurs while the piston is under compression and causes a loss of compression. Sealing inadequacies thus lower the operating efficiency of this otherwise outstanding modern automobile engine, notwithstanding the benefits gained by its simplicity.

A principal object of the present invention therefore is to provide a rotary internal combustion engine employing a planetating annular piston eccentrically mounted in a cylindrical chamber in which the piston does not rotate about its eccentric, and wherein circumferentially spaced yieldable seals are provided on the piston which are required to have relatively limited sealing engagement with the cylinder wallthereby giving these a maximum degree of efficiency while suffering a minimum amount of wear.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an engine having counter balanced annular pistons mounted eccentrically on the same shaft in separate cylindrical chambers to produce two units, one of which functions to compress and deliver to the other unit with each revolution of said shaft, a charge of gaseousfuel while said other unit receives and ignites said charge to impart a power impulse'to said shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken on the line 1-1 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 2 is a similar view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG.

takenin the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is'an enlarged diagrammatic fragmentary view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 5 and showing the eccentric rotated 330 anti-clockwise from upper dead center and with the early seal means of the invention temporarily sealing off the space between said means and the plunger plate, pending the delivery of a fuel charge into said space and the ignition thereof.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the eccentric rotated 30 anti-clockwise from upper dead center, with the early seal means still in sealing position, with the rotary fuel charge valve closed after delivering such a charge to said space, and with the spark plug energizedto ignite said charge.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the eccentric rotated 90 anti-clockwise from upper dead center,

. with the early seal means withdrawing from sealing position after the first supplementary seal has moved into sealing position.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear end elevational. view FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the eccentric rotated anti-clockwise fromupper dead center, with the early seal withdrawn from its sealing relation, with the first supplementary seal still in sealing relation, and with the second supplementary seal just about to enter its sealing relationship with the cylinder chamber.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 showing the eccentric rotated anti-clockwise from upper dead center, with the first supplementary seal removed from sealing relation, the second supplementary seal withdrawing from sealing relation, and the third supplementary seal just after entering sealing relation. This view shows the eccentric at lower dead center and with equal subchambers on opposite sides of the oscillating piston, expanding combustion gases in the left subchamber still powerfully impelling the shaft to rotate counter clockwise, burned out combustion gases in the right subchamber escaping through the exhaust port.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged diagrammatic fragmentary view taken on the line l-l of FIG. 5 and showing the fuel pump-of the invention with the eccentric thereof rotated 30 anti-clockwise from upper dead center as when beginning a gaseous fuel compression stroke and with both pump intake and'discharge passages momentarily closed.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 showing the fuel pump eccentric rotated 270 from upper dead center as when completing a fuel suction and compression stroke.

FIG. 14 is aview similar to FIG. 9 illustrating a modified form of the present invention in which the plunger plate is hingedly connected with the annular planetating piston and is confined to a radially sliding relationship with the stator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6 which are relatively smallscale diagrammatic views, the engine 15 of the invention is seen to comprise a cast metal stator 16 having end walls'l7 and 18 secured to the stator by screws 19. The end walls 17 and 18 have recesses 20 into which ribs 21 on the stator fitto precisely align these elements when assembled byscrews 19.

Axially' aligned tandem bores 22 and 23 are formed in opposite ends of stator 16, a septum wall 24 being formed in said stator between the bottoms of said bores. A hole 25 co-axial with said bores is formed in wall 24. Bearings 30 and 31 aligned with bores 22 and 23 are formed on walls 17 and 18. A shaft 32 extends through bores 22 and 23 and hole 25 and journals in said bearings. A short sleeve 33 is sweated on said shaft and located within hole 25 with its opposite ends flush with the faces of wall 24.

A rocker bore 34 extends through stator 16 parallel with and communicating with bores 22 and 23. Blind bores 35 and 36 are formed in inner faces of end walls 17 and 18 of the same diameter as and aligned with bore 34. Another bore 37 is formed in stator 16 parallel with and'about on the same level with rocker bore 34.

Front end wall 17 has a hole 38 concentric with but smaller in diameter than bore 37. Back wall 18 has a bearing 39 with a bore equal in diameter to and aligned with bore 37. i

At the level at which FIG. 4 is taken (line 4-4 in FIG. 1) the stator 16 has shaped therefrom an internal recess connecting downwardly with rocker bore 34 which recess is closed by back wall 18. At that same level the stator has an L-shaped compressed fuel reservoir 45, also closed by back wall 18 and separated from recess 40 by wall 24 and a wall 46, said reservoir communicating downwardly in the plane of FIG. 1 with the rocker bore 34 and downwardly through a throat 47 with rotary valve bore 37 in the plane of FIG. 2.

In the plane of FIG. 1 and on the level of FIG. 6, an upward opening 48 connects bore 22 with an angled gaseous fuel suction passage 49 which connects with a carburetor 50 having a butterfly throttle valve 51.

In the plane of FIG. 2 and on the level of FIG. 6, stator 16 is provided with combustion pocket 52 connecting at its narrow upper end with rotary valve bore 37 and at its wide lower end with combustion bore 23.

An upwardly angled hole 53, restricted in size and tapped at its inner end communicates with pocket 52 and affords a mounting for a spark plug 54 so that its spark gap electrodes extend into said pocket. In the same vertical plane, an exhaust port 55 inclines upwardly from the upper opposite portion of bore 23 to the exterior of the stator.

A boss 56 on the stator 16 just below bearing 39 has a stub shaft 60 on which an idle gear 61 is mounted.

Journalled in rotary valve bore 37 and bearing 39 is a rotary fuel charge delivery valve 62 the front end portion 63 of which is of reduced diameter so as to occupy hole 38, said portion having a tapped hole into which a cap screw 64 screws to secure valve 62 against endwise movement A transverse slot 65 is provided in valve 62 co-extensive lengthwise with and communieating between the fuel throat 47 and combustion pocket 52. The rear end portion of rotary valve 62 extends from bearing 39 and has fixed thereon a gear 66 which meshes with idle gear 61. Fixed on the rearwardly extending end portion of shaft 32 is a gear 67 which meshes with idle gear 61 whereby valve 62 is rotated one revolution for each two revolutions of shaft 32 for a purpose to be made clear hereinafter. Mounted on the same end of shaft 32 to remain stationary while the shaft turns is a distributor 68 which receives high tension current through cable 69 and distributes this through cable 70 to spark plug 53 to energize the latter once during each revolution of shaft 32. Fixed in diametric counterbalancing opposition by keys and 76 on shaft 32 in stator bores 22 and 23 respectively are like cylindrical eccentrics 77 and 78. Rotatively fitting on said eccentrics are like annular pistons 79 and 80 having external radial notches 81 in which inner edges of radial plunger plates 82 and 83 are respectively secured by pins 84.

The septum wall 24 constitutes the inner end wall of each of the two main stator bores 22 and 23 and the above recited eccentrics (77-78) annular pistons (79-80) and plunger plates (82-83) occupy respectively said bores, each of these elements making a sliding sealing fit with the end walls of the bore confining the same.

Roekably journalling in and occupying the rocker bore 34 and blind end bores 35 and 36 are cylindrical rockers and 91 which abut in tandem relationship and are provided with diametral transverse slots 92 which slideably receive plunger plates 82 and 83.

Plunger plate 82 differs from plunger plate 83 in having provided in one side face thereof a channel 93 which is blind at its lower end but communicates at its upper end with L-shaped compressed fuel reservoir 45.

The engine 15 includes two cooperating units A and B. Unit A performs the functions of sucking a quantity of gaseous fuel from carburetor 50 and then compressing the same into a relatively small space, and is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, l2 and 13. Unit B performs the functions of converting said compressed fuel by combustion into a power impulse and exhausting the products of that combustion, and is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 11 inclusive.

In Unit A, the annular piston 79 planetates about eccentric 77, as the latter rotates with shaft 32, bringing successive points on the periphery of piston 79 into very close juxtaposition with bore 22.

To attain maximum gaseous fuel pumping efficiency in unit A, a series of five parallel T-section seals 94 are recessed in correspondingly shaped slots 95 formed in the periphery of piston 79 at uniformly spaced circumferential intervals, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, and are biased by springs 96 very short distances outwardly from the periphery of piston 79 excepting when planetation of this piston brings certain of said seals into sealing contact with stator bore 22. The first of seals 94 is shown thus brought into sealing relation with bore 22 just beyond the fuel admission port 48 as unit A is starting a suction stroke (FIG. 12). During the immediately, preceding suction stroke, a subchamber 97 had been generated, while connected with carburetor 50, to fill this with gaseous fuel, this subchamber now being crescent shaped and shut off from the carburetor by the initial seal 94, and from the compressed fuel reservoir 45 by the butt end of plunger plate 82. Continued counter clockwise rotation of shaft 32 for 240 progressively advances the fluid tight seal between the periphery of piston 79 and bore 22 from one to another of the seals 94 until (FIG. 13) the final seal 94 is effective as the last of the contents of subchamber 94 are expelled upwardly through channel 93 into reservoir 45 just before the lower end of channel 93 is closed. This 240 of rotation of shaft 32 advances the generation of a succeeding subchamber 98 shown in FIG. 13 in its uncompleted suction phase.

These two figures thus illustrate how each revolution of shaft 32 operates in unit A, first, to diminish the maximum volume of a previously generated crescent shaped subchamber 97 to a minimal volume while it is sealed off from communication with any escape passage except channel 93 thereby compressing and discharging into compressed fuel reservoir 45 the gaseous fuel sucked into subchamber 97 during the last preceding revolution of said shaft, and, secondly, to generate in chamber bore 22 in following relation with subchamber 97, a crescent shaped subchamber 98 while the latter is exclusively connected with carburetor 50 thereby filling subchamber 98 with gaseous fuel at slightly below ambient atmospheric pressure.

In unit B, annular piston 80 planetates about eccentric 78, as the latter rotates with shaft 32, bringing successive points on the periphery of piston 80 into very close juxtaposition with bore 23. To enable this unit to perform its functions, with maximum effectiveness, it must not only generate a crescent shaped subchamber 99 during each revolution of shaft 32 and constantly maintain a fluid tight seal between piston 80 and bore 23 dividing said subchamber from a subchamber 100 generated in said bore in the immediately preceding shaft revolution, but said seal must be initiated early enough in the generation of subchamber 99 to allow time for delivering a charge of compressed fuel thereto and for closing the valve admitting said charge before ignition of the latter occurs, all while the generation of said subchamber is in its initial stages.

The manner of realizing these ends is illustrated in FIGS. '7 to 11 inclusive, the first of which shows unit B with eccentric 70 rotating counter clockwise through 330 of a preceding revolution in which a crescent shaped subchamber 100 was generated. The latter chamber contains products of combustion which are about to be expelled from subchamber 100 through exhaust 'port 55 as shown in FIGS. 8-11 inclusive. At the point in the revolution of shaft 32 shown in FIG. 7, an early T-section seal 105 mounted in the peripheral surface 106 of annular piston 80, in a recess 107, is spring biased by a spring 108 into sealing engagement with bore 23 just beyond (or counter clockwise) of combustion pocket 52 thus sealing off from subchamber 100 a rudimentary terminal portion 109 thereof disposed opposite said pocket.

It is to be noted that early T-section seal 105 is considerably longer than T-section seals 94 employed in unit A. This is to advance the initial sealing off of pocket 52 even to a point before the generation of subchamber 99 begins so as to give time for the timely delivery of a fuel charge to pocket 52 through rotary valve 62 and the closing of this valve before spark plug 54 is energized to ignite said charge, and complete all this when the eccentric 78 has only turned 30 beyond upper dead center, as shown in FIG. 8.

To maintain a fluid tight seal separating subchamber 99 from subchamber 100, the peripheral annular piston surface 106 is provided with supplementary relatively short T-section seals 110 (which may be of the same size as seals 94) and are spaced like distances from each other and from early seal 105. Three such supplementary seals are shown in the drawings as adequate although the number and spacing of seals 110 may vary to meet specific design considerations. The basic function and mode of operation of seals 105 and 110 do not require their being mounted in annular piston 80 and making sealing engagement with bore 23 as it is optional to mount said seals in the bore 23 and have them make their sealing engagement with piston 00. The same option is also available in the mounting of seals 94 in unit A.

OPERATION The engine of the invention requires a self starter to spin the shaft 32 in order to start the same. This causes unit A to suck gaseous fuel from the carburetor 50 and to discharge this at the conclusion of successive revolutions of the shaft 32 through channel 93 of plunger plate 02 (FIG. 13) into compressed fuel reservoir 45 (FIGS. 4%, 5 and 13). The pressure of fuel discharged into reservoir45 rapidly builds up to a point where a potent charge of compressed fuel is delivered through the transverse slot 65 in rotary valve 62 into combustion pocket 52 during the interval between the two positions of this valve shown in FIGS. 7 and 0. The distributor 68 (FIG. 6) is set to energize spark plug 54 at the moment pictured in FIG. 8 to ignite the charge of fuel thus delivered to pocket 52 and with the elements of unit B positioned as shown in this view. Pocket 52 having been sealed off by the seal 105 as shown in FIG. 7 just before the fuel charge was delivered into this pocket as above described, none of this fuel charge escapes into subchamber 100 but is confined in pocket 52 so that upon its ignition as shown in FIG. 8, the gases of combustion produced thereby impart a power impulse to the annular piston which is converted into rotary torque applied through its eccentric 78 to the shaft 32 as illustrated in successive FIGS. 9, l0 and 11. It is to be noted that throughout this power impulse during which shaft 32 rotates from 30 past upper dead center as shown in FIG. 8, to 270 past dead center, seals 105 and 110 maintain a gas tight seal between annular piston 80 and bore 23 of unit B so as to separate subchamber 99, in which the power impulse being described is being applied to piston 80, from subchamber containing combustion gases produced in the immediately preceding power impulse and which are in the process of being discharged from unit B through exhaust port 55 (FIG. 11). This progressive seal is illustrated in FIGS. 7 through 11 inclusive and is effected by the first of the supplementary seals 110 coming into sealing relation with bore 23 (FIG. 9), before seal breaks sealing relation with said bore, said initial supplementary seal 110, maintaining its sealing relation with said boreuntil after the second supplementary seal comes into full sealing relation with the bore 23 as shown in FIG. 10. In like manner, the sealing relation with bore 23 by the second supplementary seal 110 is maintained until after the third and final supplementary seal 110 comes into sealing relation with bore 23 as shown in FIG. 11.

The T-section seals 94 function progressively in unit A in the same manner as above described for the seals employed in unit B. In other words, they are applied progressively with the sealing function of each overlapping the sealing functions both of the seal preceding and of that following the same.

The T-section seals employed in engine 15 are coextensive in length respectively with the annular pistons 79 and 8 0 in which they are mounted andboth said pistons and said seals make sealing engagement at their opposite endswith the outside stator end walls 17 and 18 and the interior septum wall 24. Each of these seals, therefore, throughout the period it is in sealing contact with one of the bores 22 or 23 effects a near perfect seal for separation of the subchambers preceding and following said seal in whichever unit of the engine that seal is operating.

The fact that said subchambers are generated in the engine 15 by a planetating piston instead of a rotating piston is of tremendous consequence in the efficient operation of engine 15 by virtue of the fact that, because of this peculiarity in this engine, the T-section seals employed therein travel at a relatively slow speed and over a relatively short distance during each of their sealing contacts with one of the bores 22 and 23 of the engine so that the net effect of this circumstance is to reduce the wear imposed uponthese seals and upon the bores engaged thereby to a minimal amount not hithertoattainable in rotary internal combustion engine practice. A comparison of FIGS. 0 and 11 indicates, for instance, that the initial supplementary seal 110 employed in unit B of the engine engages less than 25 of the surface of bore 23 during its sealing engagement with the latter and the same of course would likewise be true of the other supplementary seals 11.0.Itis to be noted further that the surface of the bore 23 which each of the seals 110 thus engages during each revolution of the shaft 32, is not engaged by any of the other seals so that the seal produced by the engagement of the respective seals 110 on the areas of the bore 23 engaged separately by said seals is a very small fraction of the wear produced by the seals mounted in the apices of the Wankel rotary piston which are in constant wearing relation with the surface of the cylinder in which said piston rotates and in which three apex seals traverse the entire surface of the cylinder during each revolution of the piston. The same degree of efficiency of course is also realized in the operation of the seals 94 in unit A.

The modified form 15' illustrated in FIG. 14 of the engine 15 of the invention will now be described in detail. This engine is identical with engine 15 excepting that in place of rocker bore 34 the stator 16 thereof has a straight radial slot 111 in which a plunger plate 112 radially slides, this plate having, on its inner end, a cylindrical shaft 113 secured by a neck 114 to the plate 112. In place of annular piston 80, the engine 15 has an annular piston 115 having a semi-cylindrical recess 116 in which the shaft 113 rockably fits so as to provide a fluid tight hinged connection between the inner edge of plunger plate 112 and annular piston 115. The structure thus described and shown in FIG. 14 may be alternately used in place of the preferred structure shown in FIGS. 1-13 inclusive. When equipped with the alternate structure shown in FIG. 14 the engine of the invention operates, excepting for this detail, in exactly the same manner as above described.

I claim:

1. A planetating-piston rotary internal combustion engine comprising:

a stator having a bore and end walls normal to said bore to form a cylindrical chamber;

a cylindrical annular piston means smaller in diameter than, coextensive in length to, and fitting within said chamber;

bearings on said end walls co-axial with said bore;

a shaft rotatable in said bearings;

a cylindrical eccentric rotatively fitting within said piston means and eccentrically fixed on said shaft to produce a continuous sealing engagement between said piston means and said bore;

plunger plate means co-extensive in length with said piston means and making a fluid tight mechanical connection at its inner edge with said piston means and slideable relative to said stator to make a fluid tight fit therewith and to prevent rotation of said piston means with said eccentric and to divide the free space within said chamber, as said shaft rotates, into two subchambers, one of which increases in volume and the other of which diminishes in volume during each revolution of said shaft,

said eccentric being at dead center with respect to and extending towards said plunger plate means at the conclusion of each engine cycle, from which point the continued rotation of said eccentric in the direction said piston is planetating, starts to generate the subchamber of the following engine cycle opposite an adjacent area of said bore by the external cylindrical surface of the piston progressing circumferentially in close proximity with the internal surface of said stator bore area,

a combustion pocket formed radially outwardly in said stator from said area of said surface of said bore;

means functioning in timed relation with the rotation of said shaft for delivering a compressed combustible fuel mixture charge into said pocket at the initiation of an engine cycle and then immediately closing the connection between said means and said pocket;

means functioning in timed relation with the rotation of said shaft for igniting said charge after the closing of the connection between said pocket and said fuel charge delivery means;

seal means embedded in one of said surfaces adjacent said combustion pocket and on the opposite side thereof from said plunger plate means, said seal means being spring biased radially from said surface into sealing relation with the other of said surfaces to close the gap between said surfaces and close said pocket to confine said fuel charge as early as while said eccentric is at dead center, thereby extending the time allowable for the charge delivering means to deliver said charge to said pocket and then close the connection between said pocket and said delivery means before said charge is ignited; and

port means for exhausting from said subchamber as the latter is declining in volume, the gases of combustion produced in said subchamber while the same was increasing in volume.

2. An planetating piston rotary internal combustion engine as recited in claim 1 wherein said plunger plate means comprises a flat plate rigidly fixed along its inner edge to said piston means; and

a cylindrical member diametrically slotted to slideably receive said plate, there being a cylindrical bearing bore in said stator parallel to and communicating with the aforesaid chamber bore, said cylindrical member rockably journalling in said last recited bore, thereby permitting said member and said plate to co-oscillate with said piston means.

3. An planetating piston rotary internal combustion engine as recited in claim 1 wherein biased seal means is embedded in the peripheral surface of said piston and makes sealing engagement with the surface of said bore closely adjacent to said combustion pocket. 

1. A planetating-piston rotary internal combustion engine comprising: a stator having a bore and end walls normal to said bore to form a cylindrical chamber; a cylindrical annular piston means smaller in diameter than, coextensive in length to, and fitting within said chamber; bearings on said end walls co-axial with said bore; a shaft rotatable in said bearings; a cylindrical eccentric rotatively fitting within said piston means and eccentrically fixed on said shaft to produce a continuous sealing engagement between said piston means and said bore; plunger plate means co-extensive in length with said piston means and making a fluid tight mechanical connection at its inner edge with said piston means and slideable relative to said stator to make a fluid tight fit therewith and to prevent rotation of said piston means with said eccentric and to divide the free space within said chamber, as said shaft rotates, into two subchambers, one of which increases in volume and the other of which diminishes in volume during each revolution of said shaft, said eccentric being at dead center with respect to and extending towards said plunger plate means at the conclusion of each engine cycle, from which point the continued rotation of said eccentric in the direction said piston is planetating, starts to generate the subchamber of the following engine cycle opposite an adjacent area of said bore by the external cylindrical surface of the piston progressing circumferentially in close proximity with the internal surface of said stator bore area, a combustion pocket formed radially outwardly in said stator from said area of said surface of said bore; means functioning in timed relation with the rotation of said shaft for delivering a compressed combustible fuel mixture charge into said pocket at the initiation of an engine cycle and then immediately closing the connection between said means and said pocket; means functioning in timed relation with the rotation of said shaft for igniting said charge after the closing of the connection between said pocket and said fuel charge delivery means; seal means embedded in one of said surfaces adjacent said combustion pocket and on the opposite side thereof from said plunger plate means, said seal means being spring biased radially from said surface into sealing relation with the other of said surfaces to close the gap between said surfaces and close said pocket to confine said fuel charge as early as while said eccentric is at dead center, thereby extending the time allowable for the charge delivering means to deliver said charge to said pocket and then close the connection between said pocket and said delivery means before said charge is ignited; and port means for exhausting from said subchamber as the latter is declining in volume, the gases of combustion produced in said subchamber while the same was increasing in volume.
 2. An planetating piston rotary internal combustion engine as recited in claim 1 wherein said plunger plate means comprises a flat plate rigidly fixed along its inner edge to said piston means; and a cylindrical member diametrically slotted to slideably receive said plate, there being a cylindrical bearing bore in said stator parallel to and communicating with the aforesaid chamber bore, said cylindrical member rockably journalling in said last recited bore, thereby permitting said member and said plate to co-oscillate with said piston means.
 3. An planetating piston rotary internal combustion engine as recited in claim 1 wherein said stator is provided with a slot openiNg radially from said chamber, said plunger plate means comprising a flat plate slideably received by said slot; and means for hingedly connecting the inner edge of said plate with said piston means to form a fluid tight seal therewith and permitting the latter to planetate about said eccentric while said plate is confined to reciprocation in the plane of said radial slot.
 4. An engine as recited in claim 1 wherein said spring biased seal means is embedded in the peripheral surface of said piston and makes sealing engagement with the surface of said bore closely adjacent to said combustion pocket. 